As I have peviously said, "You'll be arrested, sued or shot within a week of this book getting published," were the words that came out of ar' kids' mouth when she read the first orignal three chapters of what has now evolved after many, many years into Ar' Back Yard.

I originally set about writing the book, the tale I should say. It was about growing up in and around Manchester through the early 1980s into the 1990s which is when in my mind, Manchester, and myself for that matter, witnessed some of the best and worst times that the city had ever experianced.

I had the idea for the story for a number of years, however without the means, facilities or the time to ever do anything about it I found that was all it ever remained, an idea. However, after making the decesion to move abroad back in 1998 I suddenly found both the means and the time to carry out putting pen to paper, so to speak.

After months of not having a clue how to write a book and simply banging away at the keyboard like some demented idiot. And with one crazy tale after another spilled out onto paper. I suddenly relaised that they were in fact a mulitude of relentless tales that with no real direction, were in fact great stories that should be told.

Although - those words of being arrested, sued or shot kept creeping into my mind. Especially with some of the subject matter that I was writing about. 

I therefore went back over the story and began the re-writes. Ar' Back Yard became a seperate story which will be only begining of the tale. Next to follow will be After the Rain, and then finally I will release the final installment Full Intensions, which is at present under-going further changes and one final re-write as the story has just kept evolving - even after all this time.

All three books will captivate - you - the reader and take you on a fantastic ride with it's main character Chopper and his friends, his enemies, and not forgetting the police, who are all closing in on their goals.

Each and everyone of the characters will take you through an era which saw the original Hip Hop scene take off in Manchester helped by the introduction of films like Beat Street, through the early clubbing years at some of the best clubs Manchester had to offer. All the way through the Madchester era that witnessed some of best bands this country has ever produced and who are still as good today as they were back there and then. Bands who inspired the next generation of music through the mid ninieties and even some of the bands we are currently witnessing today. Taking you from the eighties and all the way through into the nineties Ar' Back Yard is a roller-coaster of a ride.

Although the character's are ficticous and wholly of my imagination, this story (or the next two) could not have been written without the contribution to the story from the times spent back there and then. For that, I will always be grateful to all the people of Manchester and Salford with whom those times were shared. No matter what happened or what took place.

And for those of us that were lucky enough to be there, it will be a way of reliving some of those times and hopefully bringing back some memorable moments from a ride that we all jumped upon - and none of us ever wanted to stop.

Read the extracts that we posted over five-months last year to get a feel of what is in store. I'd love to know what you think of the extracts, the animation and obviously the book once you've read it. So why not leave some comments in the contact page. And if you would like to be kept updated with more information relating to Ar' Back Yard and other projects that I will be working on, then why not sign up to our mailing list.